Emma's Master Ch. 04

I woke up alone and it occurred to me that for someone who had spent the last five years ardently pursuing independence I was feeling annoyingly bereft of company. I had only a moment to ponder this however before I caught him in the doorway watching me. He was wearing only boxer shorts, sleep still playing around his features and I thought he did not look quite so intimidating like this.

I wondered if something had passed between us the night before and if he perhaps had felt it too. But then his eyes got harder again as he said, "my room, ten minutes." He turned around and left me glaring at the vacated door frame as if it still contained his shape.

Approximately ten minutes later, I was leaning back against the wall of his room, hands pressed between it and my back watching him warily while he deftly slipped on a pair of black suit pants and turned back to his closet.

"What kind of criminal works regular hours and wears a suit anyway?" I scowled.

He grabbed a shirt from a hanger, "The kind who went to business school."

"About that."

He looked up at me from the fingers doing up his shirt and said "I had an idea."

I waited for more but he he looked away and back at the mirror, buttoning up his shirt, "I was wrong."

"You? Wrong?"

"It's a rare occurrence, mind you," he smiled at me from the mirror.

Well at least he wasn't being vague about it, I thought and frowned at the floor.

I looked up abruptly as he glanced over his shoulder in my direction, "Strip."

My breath caught, "what?"

"You heard me."

It seemed we were moving too quickly. I was descending too fast and I could feel my mind scrabbling against it as if my body was dead weight in this deep, dark well I was plummeting into.

"No." I whispered. I could make my way back up, I thought. It would be difficult. I would not emerge unscathed but eventually I would reach the top again and take that first heady breath of freedom.

He finished adjusting his tie and turned back around to face me. His eyes almost sent my fingers fumbling for the first button of my shirt but I clenched my fists to my sides.

I stepped away from the wall and started to move toward the door. "Please Jack, you have to understand, I am not this person you want me to be."

He sounded annoyed. "Emma, I am tired of this. You are who I say you are and I say you are mine. So when I tell you to strip I expect you to remove any and all clothing immediately. Now."

He walked toward me slowly and I took a few steps backward until the backs of my knees hit the side of his bed.

I had nowhere to go and he paused in front of me before reaching out and pulling back my head by the hair. He pressed his mouth to mine bruisingly as his hand reached out and ripped open my shirt. He leaned back for a moment to observe my freed breasts and smiled. My nipples were already growing hard and I groaned in frustration as he lifted a hand and pinched one slightly.

"You have always had great breasts, Emma. Time has not been unkind to them."

"Yeah it's been a real boon." I grumbled.

Before I could even finish my sentence he'd spun me around and pressed me bent over on his bed. Another minute and he had my shorts and underwear around my ankles. He held me down as I thrashed against the bed with a hand to the back of my neck.

"Stop it Emma. You're being ridiculous."

I almost screamed at him but stopped myself, begrudgingly conceding that my behavior was coming off as rather childish. Again. God damn it. If only my attempts to reclaim my dignity were not so easily reduced to tantrums.

"Did you want to be spanked, Emma? Was that it?" His hand came crashing down on my backside and I renewed my struggle for a moment, attempting to cover my offended bottom with my hands but he brushed them aside.

"Because that could be the only explanation I can think of." His palm came down harder and I screamed into the comforter in front of me.

"You're not stupid." Again.

"So I have to think you wanted to be punished." He rained down a few more harsh cracks and the tears started to pour out again. Fuck.

"No!" I muffled into the bed. Had I wanted this? Of course not! I had only wanted to reassert my will of course. Remind him of my personhood. Right?

He ran a hand along the cleft below my heated ass and countered, "Really? Because your pussy is telling me a different story."

I whimpered in humiliation as he moved a finger in and out of me for a moment before I heard the sound of his belt buckle behind me. With little more warning than that sound he rammed inside me. I screeched as he began pounding me against his bed. I knew he meant this to be a quick fuck but I felt myself starting to build toward orgasm all the same.

I let out a small, "please."

"No, Emma. This isn't for you. You do not have permission to come."

I bit back more hated tears but attempted to control myself enough before he groaned and finished inside me, pulling back and zipping up perfunctorily.

"Now I have to change again."

He brushed a hand down my back and then through my hair.

"What are you going to do next time I give you an order?"

I sighed into the bed, "Obey, sir."

"That's right, baby. Go get cleaned up for breakfast."

I reached for my shorts but he stopped me. "No, leave those."

"But Marshall--"

"Yes?"

"He could--"

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to disobey me." I swallowed and drew back my hand, "yes sir."

_______________________

Tiptoeing slowly along the hall back to my room I sighed in relief when I closed the door behind me. What the fuck was that? Breath Emma, I thought. I got in the shower and started to wash him from me slowly, enjoying the soft caress of the water against my overheated skin.

Before I made my way back outside into his palpable domain, I somehow managed to compose myself. No small feat as I pushed open the door and felt the cool air claim me on the other side.

Marshall was making omelets and glanced up when I entered. I sat down on one of the stools at the counter and he placed one in front of me. There was no need for ceremony in front of Marshall.

Pulling a knee up to my chest, I picked at the eggs and cheese in front of me.

"I'm afraid I'm losing myself in him, Marshall."

He turned around with a plate of his own and leaned against the kitchen island while he picked up a fork.

"I don't think you're the type to lose yourself so easily, Emma. And I think Jack knows this as well."

"I don't know," I mumbled as I speared a piece of the omelet and shoveled it into my mouth. It was, as expected, mouth-wateringly good.

"Marshall! Emma! Have you seen my black suit jacket?" Jack shouted from his room.

We looked at each other over our food, remembering that we were still not alone in the house and Marshall called out, "Have you checked your closet!"

"Of course I checked the closet!"

Marshall looked at me conspiratorially and nodded his head in the direction of the living room behind me. I looked back and saw a black suit jacket was draped over one of the chairs.

"What about the bathroom door!" I rolled my eyes.

I considered just bringing him the jacket but Marshall was having too much fun.

"Maybe it's still at the cleaners!"

"No of course it's not at--" We could hear Jack's heavy footsteps coming closer as he came into the room and stopped.

I turned slightly to look at him as I swallowed a piece of omelet. He was standing in the living room looking at his jacket and cocking his head at Marshall accusingly.

Marshall just shrugged and gave me a bewildered expression, "oh is that black? I thought for sure navy."

I smirked as Jack rolled his eyes and made his way over to us.

"What are we eating?" he said, reaching for my plate and pressing a hand to my shoulder, urging me down to the floor. I unfurled my body from around my knee and let his hand direct me.

Settling myself, I frowned up at him as he took a large bite, "Mm, Marshall this is excellent."

I was still angry with him for leaving me frustrated earlier so I refused to be the subject of his amusement, "I was finished."

He smiled and shrugged, going back to the omelet, "suit yourself."

When he'd cleared the plate, he gathered up his jacket and looked down at me, "you're free to roam the house today Emma, with the exception of my room and office, of course, but no going outside this time." He said the last with a pointed expression, the implication clear that this had been contingent upon my good behavior.

I didn't answer him and he leaned down to my ear, "I'll see you tonight. Be good." He turned for the door, grabbing his briefcase from the side table.

Again, I stared at the place where he had been and wondered at the presence even his absence possessed.

__________

When Marshall was cleaning up the kitchen I ventured again, "so how did you end up out here with Jack?"

"Did you ask him?"

"Yeah, he was a regular fountain of useful information. I was like, whoa Jack slow down, TMI."

He laughed, "fair enough."

I waited.

"Ok," he shrugged, "well I guess it was that we met in college and he suggested we go to some party or other and I said sure, and the next semester he suggested we take some class or other and I said sure, and after college he suggested we get an apartment in some neighborhood or other while we looked for jobs and I said sure. So when he had to come back here, it seemed only natural that I would come with him."

I took in this new information, "why did he have to come back here?"

Something briefly marred Marshall's usually sanguine expression but he went back to scraping off the frying pan in the sink, "for that, you'll have to ask him."

"Yeah, like that'll happen."

He looked back up at me, "I know it may not always seem like it Emma, but at the core of things he is a good man. Even in this life, I've never known him to hurt anyone who did not truly deserve it."

And not for the first time I found myself wondering if he was not a little in love with Jack and if Jack was not aware of this. If he did he certainly never gave any indication of it. Truthfully, Marshall's blind faith was almost endearing but I said, "what about me?"

"What do you mean?"

I started to feel the indignation building in my chest again, "he's hurt me! Why does everyone always forget about me?"

Then he sighed and put down the pan, "here you are a slave, Emma. And even then, I do not think Jack has really hurt you, do you?"

"Depriving me of my right to freedom? Is this kindness? You realize that when most people in this country say "slave" they are referring to something very far away or very long ago. It is not a thing most say so casually over breakfast, Marshall, as if this is meant to refute all argument."

He looked at me sadly for another moment before he said, "I don't know what else to say, Emma. That is the way things are here. Have been for a very long time. It is what he knows."

Drained by my outburst, I swallowed back tears and contemplated the futility of further discussion on the topic. Marshall would always defend Jack. That is why Jack trusted him so implicitly.

We were both silent until finally he seemed to brighten up at a thought, "hey how 'bout we watch a movie, huh? I just got Die Hard 2 on blu ray."

I almost laughed, we had watched those movies together so many times in the past that at this point we could probably just act them out to each other.

So I decided to abandon my self pity for now and said, "Ok, sounds like a plan."

"I'm just gonna wash up and I'll be right back." He left and I looked around the kitchen, wondering at the domesticity of it. To an outside observer it would never appear that we had just had a loaded conversation about my unwilling confinement.

I was heading in the direction of the living room when I heard the front door open. Jack must have forgotten something.

"Why, hello there." I took a step back.

"Your master around?" Leon.

I froze. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. The most evil man I had ever met was standing not ten feet in front of me, giving me his most predatory smile.

I wanted to run screaming for the exit. I wanted to find a knife and bury it deep in his chest. I wanted to curse his sole existence and call upon any higher power to strike him down in a blaze of righteous fire. But I didn't. I knew what could happen to me if I did. To Jack. Not that I cared, I quickly corrected.

Instead I stood still as he raked his repulsive, snakelike eyes over me before remarking, "Hmm I wonder that I did not keep you for myself all those years ago."

Thank god for small miracles I thought, reminded again of how much worse my enslavement could have been.

I remembered that day when I had woken up, unsure of my surroundings in a brightly lit room with only a cot. I was wearing some kind of ridiculous negligee that I would have rolled my eyes at had I not been absolutely terrified. The last thing I remembered was walking to class from a coffee shop with the feeling of a shadow behind me and I had few illusions about what waking up in a strange place, dressed in lingerie might connote.

When the door opened I shot up to defend myself. I was determined they would not take me so easily. But there was no sudden attack as I braced myself in the center of the room. The two men in the door only watched me emotionlessly as I fought to stay my ground.

"I picked her out especially for you Jack, it's about time you acquired one."

Jack regarded me with disinterest, "Leon, I have told you before I have no need for a slave. They are more trouble than they're worth."

"Nonsense, I have big plans for you Jack and this will cement your place in our community."

I remember seeing something dark pass over Jack's eyes that I did not understand. His expression for me was almost one of contempt and even then I was afraid of his anger. I was not sure what I had done to earn it.

Finally, Leon actually spoke to me and I started, "this is your master now girl. Obey him in all things and he will look after you."

My anxiety escaped in a kind of maniacal laughter and I snarled, "I have no need for looking after."

Jack's anger seemed to dull slightly, "no?"

I looked at him fiercely, feigning a confidence I did not possess and said, "you just try looking after me asshole, and you'll see just how well I'll 'look after' you."

I thought for sure this would be the moment they would attack me, that I had provoked their anger into action but instead this strange man I had just been informed would be my master in all things only looked slightly amused. In fact, I could almost detect a faint grin beneath his stoic features and I remembered thinking that I did not mind the sight of it so much. I remembered this because I was struck by what a stupid thought this was.

"You know what? I think I will take her."

When he faced me again he looked right at me with those quicksand eyes and said, "what's your name, little bird?"

Years later I had asked him why he'd called me that and he'd mulled it over as if considering it anew, "I don't know. I suppose because you looked as if had the ceiling only been open you would so easily have flown away."

If only it had been.

Leon's voice brought me back to the present and I found myself wishing Jack had actually forgotten something and would be coming back any moment, "well?"

I was unsure what he was asking and tried to remember what he had said.

"Is you're master here or isn't he?"

I let out a breath when I heard Marshall behind me, "you know he's not here Leon. He left half an hour ago."

Leon raised an eyebrow and took a step toward me, "ah, of course. I should have come by earlier." I tensed at the look in his eyes.

Marshall moved to step between us and Leon was forced to acknowledge him, "you know the rules Leon. Jack said no touching."

Leon's face clouded over with irritation before relaxing again, "yes, I remember. A pity. The slut's practically begging to be touched." Did he suffer from some kind of serious delusion? What about my paralyzing fear screamed fuck me? Of course, as I thought this I realized that he probably suffered from several of them. And this was the man in charge of this twisted neighborhood.

"Can I help you with anything, Leon?" Marshall was struggling to appear both respectful and imposing at the same time. A delicate balance to maintain.

After what seemed like an eternity, Leon finally removed his eyes from my body, "no, just stopped by to see Jack is all. I'll come back another time." It sounded almost like a threat.

When he'd gone, I practically sagged to the floor in relief.

Marshall locked the door after him and glared at it, "fucking asshole. He came by just to scare you. Gets a rise from that shit."

"Why hasn't anyone put a bullet in him yet?"

"Believe me, it's not for lack of trying."

I didn't want to think about him anymore. He had left and that was good enough for now, "Die Hard?"

"Hell yeah, let's do it," Marshall perked up and collapsed onto the couch, reaching for the remote.

I shook off the mass of terror that had descended on me again in Leon's company and shelved it somewhere in the recesses of my consciousness. It did no good to let it get the better of me.

"It's already in the machine?" I let myself fall into the couch cushions next to Marshall.

He looked at me seriously, "Die Hard, Emma. On blu ray."

I laughed and pulled my knees up to my chest. Tilson and Leon and Grady Park receded a little further behind that locked front door for now.

________________

After the movie Marshall went out for a while and I puttered around, picking up a book, putting it down, looking out the window. I was staring absentmindedly at a tree outside the kitchen when I heard the familiar sound of Jack's feet behind me. His hand came around my stomach and I felt the prickly unshaved texture of his chin against my neck. Somewhere nearby I heard the drone of a lawnmower and wondered again that there could still be life going on Out There. In the rest of everything.

"When did you get home?"

"Just now." He ran one hand down my side and slid his other hand a little lower.

"Hmmm, I've been thinking about taking advantage of you all day."

"Jack," I was getting nervous as he started to lift the hem of my shirt out of my shorts. I tried to turn around but he held me pressed against the counter.

"Yes?"

"What are you doing?" I almost squealed as his hand pushed down beneath my shorts.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"N-no not here" I shuddered as the pressure from the front of my shorts molded his fingers against me.

"You wouldn't be saying no to me again? Would you Emma?" His other hand was slowly undoing the buttons of my shirt.

"Because that would be a very silly thing to do."

He pushed my shirt aside and gently started circling my breasts and rapidly rising nipples as his other hand pressed against my clit, "wouldn't it?"

He pulled his hand out of my shorts and I experienced a moment of relief before he moved to undo the button at the front and pull down the zipper.

"I suppose he could, couldn't he?" Bastard.

I struggled again as he pushed my shorts and underwear down to my knees, "step out."

"Jack, please," I whimpered.

His voice was very low in my ear, "I said step out."

As I did this he pulled my shirt down my arms and off completely. I flushed from scalp to toes as I was now completely naked in the kitchen. Anyone could walk in now and I would have no way to hide. Not with Jack pressed up against me like this.